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Marbury hails 'competitive' CBA playoff finals

By Sun Xiaochen (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-29 08:00

BEIJING - Former NBA all-star guard Stephon Marbury has hailed the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Finals as an "extremely competitive series" after his prediction that Guangdong would defend its title came true on Wednesday.

Marbury, who went back to the United States after his CBA club, Foshan Longlions, failed to reach the postseason last month, appeared at the Guangdong Southern Tigers' home stadium on April 22 to watch the host's best-of-seven final series game against the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

"The teams played extremely hard. The game was much more competitive than I had imagined. Xinjiang played very well, but Guangdong will win the championship," Marbury said at courtside when Guangdong stunned Xinjiang in its second home game last Friday and leveled the series to 2-2.

Five days later, the Southern Tigers fulfilled Marbury's prediction by defeating Xinjiang, 103-93, to claim the best-of-seven final series 4-2 and clinch its fourth consecutive CBA title. The 34-year-old veteran attributed Guangdong's victory to "experience and tough defense".

"Guangdong is a better defensive team. Xinjiang is a great offensive team. Offense wins eyeballs but defense wins championships," Marbury told China Daily during a visit to his online sneaker business partner, Letao.com on Tuesday.

"They (Guangdong) play tough defense which creates easy baskets for them. They have been in the finals for years and that has given them winning experience," said Marbury, who hopes he will not be a finals spectator next season.

"Hopefully, I can be on the floor and not only sit and watch."

Being a one-time neighbor of Xinjiang's swingman, Quincy Douby, who averaged 34.7 points per game during the final series, in Brooklyn, New York, Marbury hailed his friend's red-hot shooting, but said he needed more support from his teammates.

"He (Douby) played very hard. But you can't count on him all the time. The Chinese players should have stepped up to open more chances for him," said Marbury, who shared the limelight with Douby, the Sacramento Kings' 19th pick in the 2006 NBA draft, at the CBA All-Star Weekend last month.

Marbury's team, Foshan, finished 14th this season with an uninspiring 11-21 record, but the American two-time NBA all-star says he is still enjoying his Chinese adventure and stressed he wants to retire in the country where he feels "respect and love from loyal fans".

In addition to his efforts on the court, Marbury has finally realized his ambition of putting an "affordable" sneaker on the market. His first signature shoe is available on Letao.com and costs 198 yuan ($30).

Following this casual shoe, which was designed by Beijing's KNOWAY sportswear company, Marbury said his first basketball shoe will come out in time for next season's first game, and follow the same "low-price" principle.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/29/2011 page24)